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2 Feb 2007 : Column 584W—continued


Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the staff of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as other public servants. [118513]

Mr. Hain: The staff of the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as other public servants.

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to make provision for the next police ombudsman in Northern Ireland to be a person of judicial standing. [118514]

Mr. Hain: The next police ombudsman for Northern Ireland will be appointed following competition conducted under the public appointments process. The appointment will be made on merit, judged against a list of competences appropriate to the post.

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to appoint the next police ombudsman for Northern Ireland; what the timescale is for such an appointment; and whether it will be made under existing legislation. [118515]

Mr. Hain: The next police ombudsman for Northern Ireland will be appointed in accordance with the Commissioner For Public Appointments code of practice and in compliance with existing legislation. The appointment process will begin shortly.


2 Feb 2007 : Column 585W

Home Department

ASBOs

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there were for antisocial behaviour in West Lancashire in the last period for which figures are available. [112303]

Mr. McNulty: There is no specific criminal offence of antisocial behaviour so the information requested is therefore not available.

Asylum Decisions

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether applications made to Ministers by hon. Members to reconsider asylum decisions are dealt with by his (a) Ministers and (b) officials. [111895]

Mr. Byrne: Ministers respond to such applications in the light of advice provided by officials.

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether foreign documents submitted to his (a) Ministers and (b) officials by hon. Members in respect of asylum cases are translated. [111896]

Mr. Byrne: Policy on translations is governed by the Asylum Policy Instruction Translations, which is available on the website of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate at:

It is the claimant's responsibility to provide material in English or with an English translation. Exceptions may be made where there is a reasonable explanation for the failure to provide a translation, or where not awaiting a translation would adversely affect the decision making process.

Asylum Seekers

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reasonable period has been fixed by law for execution of a removal order on failed asylum seekers; and how long this period was for the Bokhari family of Grimsby detained at Yarl's Wood Detention Centre. [110496]

Mr. Byrne: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 22 January with the information requested.

Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department will introduce a grant for local authorities that would reimburse their costs for supporting asylum seekers who have exhausted all avenues of appeal waiting for deportation. [110844]

Mr. Byrne: There are no plans to introduce an additional grant for local authorities for this purpose in addition to the money already provided by central Government towards the cost of revenue expenditure on social services and education.


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Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the implications are of the findings of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate pilot schemes at Dover port and Croydon piloting the use of social work intake teams in the asylum process for the resolution of disputes about the age of children seeking asylum. [110956]

Mr. Byrne: Dedicated social work intake teams were introduced at Dover in 2003 and at the Asylum Screening Unit at Croydon in 2005. The main purpose of the teams is to provide specialist initial assessment and intake services, to improve the resolution of age dispute claims and to improve the identification of vulnerable children from abroad.

Although no formal evaluation of these projects has been carried out, both Croydon and Kent local authorities and the Immigration and Nationality Directorate have reported that the teams have been successful in resolving age dispute issues and improving the Immigration and Nationality Directorate’s child protection procedures.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was claimed in benefits by failed asylum seekers in each of the last 12 months. [111223]

Mr. Byrne: Costs relating to the provision of accommodation and subsistence payments for asylum seekers are not recorded according to their asylum status and are not available in the form requested.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in each of the last two years enforcement and removal officers have failed to carry out a removal due to a failed asylum seeker having left their registered address. [111251]

Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Mr. Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the longest time is which a failed asylum seeker has spent in a detention centre before either deportation or release. [111677]

Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only by examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed Chinese asylum seekers are being held in detention centres pending deportation to China. [111679]

Mr. Byrne: There are currently 47 Chinese nationals being held in immigration detention centres. The information held does not differentiate between failed asylum seekers and others detained under immigration powers.


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Biometric Trials

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has carried out biometrics trials as referred to in Procurement Strategy Market Soundings Update published by his Department in December 2005; and if he will publish the results when the trials are complete. [109601]

John Reid: These procurements have yet to start and biometric trialling has, therefore, not yet taken place.

Convicted Foreign Nationals: Deportation

Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action his Department has taken to ensure that anybody who is convicted of an imprisonable offence and who is a foreign national is deported. [116943]

Mr. Byrne: The Director-General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on 12 December 2006 to provide an update on progress in the deportation of foreign national prisoners. In this letter the Director-General outlined that due consideration of deportation takes place in all new cases of foreign national prisoners before release, and that since April 2006, over 1,600 foreign national prisoners had been deported or removed. A copy of this letter is available from the Library of the House and a further update will be provided to the Home Affairs Committee shortly.


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My right hon. Friend The Home Secretary has stated that changes will be made to the law to strengthen the link between deportation and criminality. The legislative proposals will be brought forward shortly in the forthcoming UK Borders Bill.

Correspondence

Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 22 December 2006, on compensation to an illegal immigrant. [112138]

Mr. Byrne: I wrote to the hon. Member on 29 January 2007.

Crime Statistics: Somerset

Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent crimes were committed in Somerset in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (a) basic command unit area and (b) local authority area. [112133]

Mr. Coaker: Information is provided in the table for Avon and Somerset Constabulary at Basic Command Unit (BCU) and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) levels.

CDRPs were set up under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and are broadly local authority areas. Data for all crime at BCU and CDRP levels are only available from 2000-01.

Violent Crime—Avon and Somerset by Basic Command Unit
BCU name 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

Bath and North East Somerset

1,873

1,927

1,854

2,229

Central Bristol

4,800

6,010

5,986

7,096

North Bristol

3,194

2,770

2,774

3,305

North Somerset

2,054

2,113

2,647

3,231

Somerset East

2,323

2,760

3,098

4,090

Somerset West

2,542

2,920

3,645

4,387

South Bristol

2,375

2,981

3,311

3,959

South Gloucester

2,484

2,189

2,498

2,657

Note:
From 2002-03, data not comparable with earlier years following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standards(NCRS) in April 2002

BCU name 2004-05 2005-06

Bath and North East Somerset

2,961

3,146

Bristol (1)

15,624

15,524

North Somerset

4,005

3,592

Somerset East

5,074

4,090

Somerset West

4,580

3,781

South Gloucester

3,370

3,932

(1 )After April 2004
Note:
Boundary changes in April 2004


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2 Feb 2007 : Column 590W
Violent Crime—Avon and Somerset by Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership
CDRP name 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06

Bath and North East Somerset

1,873

1,927

1,854

2,229

2,961

3,146

City of Bristol UA

10,369

11,761

12,071

14,360

15,624

15,524

North Somerset

2,054

2,113

2,647

3,231

4,005

3,592

Sedgemoor

971

1,122

1,365

1,826

1,909

1,636

Somerset East—Mendip

1,020

996

1,289

1,684

2,016

1,585

Somerset East—South Somerset

1,303

1,764

1,809

2,406

3,058

2,505

South Gloucester

2,484

2,189

2,498

2,657

3,370

3,932

Taunton Deane

1,185

1,339

1,752

2,036

2,173

1,760

West Somerset

386

459

528

525

498

385

Note:
From 2002-03, data not comparable with earlier years following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standards(NCRS) in April 2002

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